After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 682 Showdown
“We’re a legitimate company, not a meat-selling operation… Rent them an apartment, cut off their internet, block their signal, and hire two security guards to watch over them.”

"No need for that. They're quite stubborn. If the maids act cute and charming, they'll lose their bearings. They don't need any of that nonsense."

"How do you know not?"

“There are security cameras, and I often go over to visit. Several Japanese guys said they wanted to work for our company until they died, and that our company is the most humane one. They love it here…”

Li Mingyang chuckled; the Japanese were quite easy to please.

I was laughing, and then suddenly I stopped laughing.

Isn't this the same Turtle Man who later became popular in the Chinese server?

Okay, the Chinese server is still updating, the Japanese server is more advanced...

"Xiao Ye did a good job. Was the company or you two paying for that maid's salary?"

Zhang Wei's management of the accounts was rather suffocating. She would never approve money for maids.

“It’s a personal matter…we both paid for it together,” Xiao Ye said, pointing at Ah Huo.

"We'll reimburse you for the public relations expenses later. You write the forms, and I'll sign them. Otherwise, it won't go through with Zhang Wei."

"Okay, boss!"

Li Mingyang tapped the table and said in a deep voice, "You've done a good job keeping secrets, but the progress is too slow. You're hiring again. How many people are there already... more than two hundred. It's easy for secrets to be leaked."

“Boss, your requirements are too high… What can be easily solved by hand-drawing becomes exponentially more difficult when it comes to CG,” Ah Huo said.

"So, how do you think it works? Is it good?"

Ah Huo scratched his head, "The effect is really good..."

"I don't care about money, I care about results."

"Miss, this movie could normally be made for ten or twenty million, but I've almost spent a hundred million."

"Selling props should be enough to make up for it, right?" Xiao Ye said.

"At most, we can recover half."

Li Mingyang waved his hand, "Your Name Animation is the key to our success in opening up the Xiao Rizi market. I'm entrusting the future of the company to you. No matter what method you use, you have to polish your name for me with high quality and quantity. Spare no expense. Problems that can be solved with money are not problems at all."

"If we take over the small-life market in the future, you will be the first and second heroes. I will fully support you to become regional leaders."

The two were shocked by Li Mingyang's promise. They just wanted to be producers, and never expected to become high-ranking officials.

"I originally said it would be less than 100 million, but now I'm doubling my investment to 200 million! This year, I'm determined to have your name animated film released in Japan!"

"If we can't resolve this this year, none of you should stay in South Korea. Go back to your home countries!"

Carrot and stick!

Ah Huo and Xiao Ye have finally found their purpose in life, and they don't want to go back to China!

They genuinely want to dominate the anime industry and make a name for themselves!

"I tried my best... I tried my best to complete the mission," Ah Huo said rather conservatively.

Li Mingyang frowned deeply.

Xiao Ye suddenly stood up. "Brother Li, don't worry, I'm telling you right now, if I don't get your name out of the picture this year, I'll resign and retire from the industry."

Ah Huo's eyes widened. "Holy crap, Xiao Ye, you're one of the Five Tigers! Why were you so impulsive!"
Li Mingyang said with satisfaction, "Xiao Ye is good, he has ambition!"

"Brother Li trusts me so much, if I don't handle this well, how can I face anyone to stay here?" Xiao Ye said, touching her forehead with a pained expression and giving Ah Huo a meaningful look.

Ah Huo realized what was happening and immediately made a pledge: if he couldn't succeed, he would go back to his hometown to raise pigs.

“Very good, this is the backbone that a famous person should have. It’s all about success or death. There is no such thing as a smooth journey. It’s all achieved through great perseverance and courage.”

Li Mingyang was very happy. He came up to the two men, patted them heavily on the shoulders, promised them a bunch of privileges, and then left.

Xiao Ye peeked through the crack in the door and watched Li Mingyang disappear at the gate. This time, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Xiao Ye, you're being too impulsive! It looks like it might not work this year. We're not even sure we'll be able to pull it off!"

Xiao Ye rolled her eyes. "Who has been with Director Li longer, you or me? Who understands Director Li better, you or me?"

Ah Huo stopped talking.

"He doesn't usually promise many benefits, but he gives out a large bonus after the movie's run ends... He's a powerful regional official, and the budget is 200 million. If we fail, do you think he'll let us off easily? What's wrong with your brain?!"

"Uh... why are you swearing at me!"

"Sorry for getting excited!" Xiao Ye said anxiously, punching his right palm with his left fist. "The most important thing right now is to find people quickly, as this is the limit of what we can do with these people."

"The boss said we can't add more people! If there's a leak, we won't even make it to the end of the year..."

Xiao Ye sighed, "This isn't just one hundred million, it's two hundred million! Tell me, how are we going to spend all this money without hiring more people?"

"let me see……"

"Don't even think about it, Director Li just wants us to add more people!"

"what!"

"He specifically praised us for doing a good job of keeping things confidential, so we must keep it confidential. Doubling the budget means we need to add more people. The summary is that we need to add more people and rush the work while maintaining confidentiality!"

“There are so many people watching your project, adding more people will definitely cause trouble…” Ah Huo kept shaking his head, disagreeing.

“If we recruit people from within the country, then they’re considered our own people.”

"But the domestic level isn't good enough..."

"It's not about drawing skills anymore, it's about 3D modeling! No problem... Ah Huo, does your family raise pigs?"

"Um……"

"In a remote mountain village?"

"My family raises wild boars in the mountains... It's quite remote, the signal isn't very good, so they drive people into the mountains and then pen them up!"

“We have many partner studios in China. Once the deal is done, they're on our side. We can use your pig farm, cut off the internet, block the signal, and have security guards watching over it. The compensation for the confidentiality agreement is so high that those people will be forced to leak information and live like pigs for life.”

"It's too cruel!"

"Before we pity them, let's pity ourselves first... If we fail, we'll be worse off than anyone else..."

Ah Huo was startled; he didn't actually know much about Li Mingyang.

But Li Mingyang's bottom line is extremely low.

To achieve one's goals, one will stop at nothing...

To be willing to kneel in public for the sake of success—that's incredible courage.

If you're so ruthless to yourself, imagine how you'd treat others...

……

Li Mingyang had been busy all night and came to the company cafeteria for breakfast.

Breakfast is a buffet. There are Chinese, Western, Korean, and other options.

Kimchi is essential.

Koreans really consider kimchi an essential part of their lives.

Li Mingyang took soy milk, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and shumai, piling them up high.

The staff offered to help, but Li Mingyang refused.

They arrived at their private dining room.

Li Mingyang took a sip of soy milk and a bite of steamed bun, enjoying his meal immensely.

The door was pushed open, and Zhang Wei arrived.

"Miss, have you finished filming?" Zhang Wei asked, sitting down opposite Li Mingyang.

"Ah."

“After breakfast, let’s talk about Wall Street.” Zhang Wei said, and the door opened again, with a waiter carrying a tray in.

Zhang Wei ate a simple meal: a bowl of wontons.

The chef who makes wontons is the same owner who used to run a wonton stall in front of the Goodbye Nightclub.

"I'm free now, so just tell me," Li Mingyang said, swallowing a steamed bun and taking a sip of iced soy milk.

"BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) does not agree with your proposal."

"Too little?"

Is 1% a lot?

Li Mingyang rejected the Wall Street Capital deal.

He has offended so many people, and he won't just hand over the empire he's worked so hard to build.

He needs absolute control!

A compromise can at most bring one Palme d'Or.

Long-term holding and dominating Asia are the keys to greater gains!

In the short term, his biggest rival is Netflix, which is still rampant in Europe and America.

In a sense, Netflix is ​​a nail driven into Hollywood by Wall Street capital, a disruptor that is breaking the Hollywood mold.

Li Mingyang rejected the Wall Street capital, but not wanting to offend them, he offered a new proposal.

That is, BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) investing in them.

BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) also has Wall Street capital behind it.

Vanguard and BlackRock both hold shares in BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), while Fidelity, State Street, SoftBank, and JPMorgan Chase also hold shares in BAT.

Allowing BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) to invest is tantamount to allowing Wall Street capital to indirectly invest in FBTV.

You ungrateful animal.

Even 1% is not enough.

How many do they want?

"BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) has not made any explicit intention to invest; they've been playing coy. I feel they have no intention of helping us out of this predicament."

Li Mingyang hummed in agreement and continued eating.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei scooped up a small wonton with a white porcelain spoon.

He opened his mouth, slurped up a mouthful of wonton, chewed for a while, and then swallowed it with satisfaction.

Li Mingyang ate faster than Zhang Wei. He wiped his mouth with a tissue and waited for Zhang Wei to finish eating. Then, the two went upstairs together to Zhang Wei's office.

In Zhang Wei's office, documents and books were piled up on her desk, coffee table, and side cabinet in front of the bookshelf.

There is a trace of order amidst the chaos.

Zhang Wei either works at her desk or on the sofa.

Or stand in front of the bookshelf and browse through documents and books.

As soon as Li Mingyang sat down on the sofa, Zhang Wei brought over a stack of documents and placed them heavily on the coffee table.

"Um... could you please prepare a simple report? Every time I discuss something with you, you bombard me with a mountain of documents." Li Mingyang traced the thickness of the documents with his thumb; it was incredibly frustrating.

"You don't trust me, I'm going to prove my innocence."

Li Mingyang reluctantly accepted it. If Zhang Wei had any problems, it would be a huge problem. He picked up a document and said, "What do these documents say?"

"Meeting minutes between me and domestic and overseas capital."

"Holy crap...you're trying to kill me with work!" Li Mingyang pretended to flip through the documents and asked Zhang Wei about the progress of the negotiations.

This time, Zhang Wei didn't deliberately make things difficult. She concisely recounted her communication with BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), her entanglement with Wall Street capital, and her negotiations with SoftBank.

During the time that Lee Ming Yang was filming prostitutes, the struggle surrounding FBTV was not intense, but it was deadly.

Those who have their eyes on FBTV, this tiny seedling, are all gluttonous behemoths!
"They're watching very closely... How about a clever escape?"

"Sell FBTV and start a new company?"

"Ah."

"No."

Li Mingyang, skilled at feigning weakness and escaping unscathed, rejected Zhang Wei's suggestion. "We are a listed company. Feigning weakness is escapism, failure, a complete and utter failure. No one will believe us anymore! How can we give shareholders confidence!"

"I can't think of a solution. BAT is just keeping us hanging on. CJ's stock price has already dropped to 400 billion won. If this continues, it could drop to 300 billion won."

On the day of its listing, it was worth 2.6 trillion won, but now it's only worth 4000 billion won. The Korean stock market is simply a haven for short sellers!

Li Mingyang had always been worried about short selling, which is why he joined forces with the conglomerate, but in the end, he still couldn't escape it.

"The Fair Trade Commission came to our door again a couple of days ago, still about the Battle of the Century. They demanded that we immediately stop using the Battle of the Century to attract traffic for fraud, or they would sue us."

"Again? Aren't you tired of this... What other tricks have they come up with?"

"a lot of."

"..."

"With the withdrawal of conglomerates, public pressure, and commercial fraud... next, they will probably cut off our film supply."

"It can't be broken, can it?" Li Mingyang asked.

Zhang Wei shook her head, pulled out the documents she had just brought, and handed the bottom document to Li Mingyang.

"Six streaming platforms, including iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video, Sohu, Ku6, and LeTV, issued a joint statement in the Chinese entertainment industry, binding the online copyrights of mainland Chinese films and television dramas to South Korean content, which cannot be sold separately."

"When did this happen?"

Zhang Wei did not answer Li Mingyang's question, but continued: "The review committee held a meeting in early April. Korean dramas are broadcast on cable TV, the TV station will finish broadcasting, and they can only be launched on streaming media two months later."

"Policy pressure...is this all targeting FBTV?"

“Now, whether you’re in the industry or not, anyone who follows the entertainment circle knows about your Asian streaming plan.” Zhang Wei sat down next to Li Mingyang and flipped to the middle of the document she had just handed him. “This is a short essay I printed out for Weibo; it was trending on Weibo.”

Li Mingyang glanced down at the short essay; it was published on the afternoon of April 10th.

The short essay thoroughly dissected Li Mingyang's Asian streaming plan, revealing that, except for the fact that FBTV does not intend to establish itself in China but rather to counter BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), it is essentially the same as his Asian streaming plan.

"Damn, who posted this? Have they found out yet?"

"I didn't check. Too many people understand our Asian streaming plan. Anyone with eyes can see it."

The unveiling of the Asian streaming plan is related to the release of the trailer for the animated film "Your Name".

Lee Myung-yang bombarded the South Korean domestic film market with movies and seized the streaming market with FBTV.

The actual effect of this move is absolutely explosive.

Celebrity effect

The Seoul Spring phenomenon generated over 20 million views.

It brought a massive amount of traffic to FBTV, and even though FBTV did not acquire the Korean drama rights from CJ, it still firmly held the second position in the market share of Korean streaming media!
iQiyi has simply gone out of business.

The Seoul Spring Festival attracted over 20 million visitors, thanks to just two words: ethnicity!
National self-confidence and national antagonism.

The rise of the "Your Name" anime and Korean comics is essentially destroying the livelihood of traditional Japanese comics.

A stroke of genius!

Without this brilliant move, the Seoul Spring Festival would never have surpassed 20 million visitors.

Because of cause and effect, Li Mingyang has no regrets.

I just didn't expect it to attract Wall Street capital, that gluttonous beast!

Since its listing on March 21, the situation has not only left no room for maneuver, but has also created a situation of being attacked from both inside and outside.

Both China and South Korea are helping Wall Street capital to strangle him.

It's understandable that South Korean chaebols are involved; they're all lackeys.

It's the same in China; it's truly unbearable to watch.

They're tough on domestic issues, but cowardly on international ones.

The nature of domestic capital...

Despite possessing abundant resources and the world's largest market, without fighting spirit, it's difficult to achieve great things.

“I’m planning to go back to China,” Li Mingyang blurted out abruptly.

"When?" Zhang Wei asked calmly.

Li Mingyang smiled, tossed the documents in his hand aside, and reached out to hold Zhang Wei's hand.

Zhang Wei frowned slightly and said coldly, "Let go."

“I’m going to take you back to China with me.” Li Mingyang gently squeezed Zhang Wei’s hand and placed it on his heart.

"Is there something important?" Zhang Wei struggled for a moment, but gave up when she saw that Li Mingyang had no further ulterior motives.

She can tolerate slight contact and it won't cause an allergic reaction.

"Isn't it very important that we go back to China together?"

Zhang Wei stared at Li Mingyang for a moment, then suddenly froze. "You're going back to China early?"

"Ah."

"Are you really going back to China early?" Zhang Wei's tone suddenly softened, and even her icy expression melted away.

“I’ve already made my decision, so your question is unnecessary.” Li Mingyang grinned and tightened his grip slightly. “Don’t even think about staying in Korea; you have to come back with me.”

“If I go back with you, who will help you manage the Korean business? FBTV was maliciously shorted, but that doesn’t prevent FBTV from operating normally. Once FBTV and TVing merge, the stock price will naturally rebound. Do you want to give up the business you’ve built?” Zhang Wei’s soft, boneless hand was squeezed painfully, but she still spoke calmly.

"I don't feel at ease if you stay."

Zhang Wei suddenly stood up, forcefully pulling her arm away from Li Mingyang's grip. "I've sacrificed so much for the company, are you pretending not to see it, or are you deliberately making things difficult for me? What exactly do you want me to do?"

Looking at the furious Zhang Wei, Li Mingyang shamelessly said, "You are neither my wife, nor my mistress, nor my secretary. You have so much power, many people will gossip about you."

"Don't give me that joking look. You said a lot of people are gossiping, right? Fine! Jing Tian is at the company. I'll call her over right now."

As Zhang Wei spoke, she took out her phone, pressed her thumb, and dialed Jing Tian's number.

No matter how fast Li Mingyang was, he couldn't stop him in time, and his face immediately turned black.

Even if you call Sweetie here, it won't matter. Regardless of any other words, you must come with me.

"I disagree. Go ahead and fire me if you dare!" Zhang Wei took a few steps back and leaned her butt against the desk.

Li Mingyang was just sitting on the sofa, doing nothing, which was very suspicious...

"Don't you want to hear my plans for you?"

"You told me a year ago that you wanted me to be a tycoon, and now you've turned your back on me... You've used me and discarded me!" Zhang Wei, with her long legs, leaned back on her desk and said angrily, "Let's get this straight today. FBTV isn't something I'm in charge of; they forced it on me. I've already delegated all the power I could. What more do you want from me?"

"Even if you've handed over power, they'll still listen to you when I'm not around."

"You're slandering me!"

“There’s no slander, it’s the truth. Do you dare say they don’t listen to you?” Li Mingyang had just finished filming the young lady and hadn’t had time to investigate yet; he was just bluffing Zhang Wei.

Of course, it was based on understanding Zhang Wei's character and abilities that I intimidated her.

Zhang Wei fell silent, staring coldly at Li Mingyang.

An eerie silence fell over the office.

Zhang Wei didn't look away until Jing Tian knocked on the door and came in.

She pulled Jing Tian to sit opposite Li Mingyang, and like an older sister, she asked her about her well-being. She even brought up July and An Sheng to stir up Jing Tian's emotions.

"I haven't made any arrangements yet. I'll turn it on after I've organized what I've been studying recently."

Have you arranged Yang Mi and Liu Yifei's schedules yet?

"Hmm...we'll see when the time comes..."

“Sweetie, you’re not Director Li, you can’t just change other people’s schedules at will. Mimi is very busy, and Liu Yifei is very busy too. Schedules need to be arranged in advance.”

“We’re good friends…it’s okay.” Jing Tian said, glancing at Li Mingyang with a strange expression.

"That's good." Zhang Wei changed the subject. "Director Li just said that many people in the company are spreading rumors about my relationship with him. Have you heard about that?"

Upon hearing this, Jing Tian covered her mouth and chuckled, "There are such rumors?! What are they saying?"

Spread rumors?

Who would dare spread such a rumor? Li Mingyang is just making things up.

Then Zhang Wei also made things up, on the spot, and her stories actually sounded quite convincing.

Office romances are nothing new to workaholics; they're the most talked-about topic.

She had witnessed Li Mingyang and Bai Bin "making trouble" and "being unreasonable" in the office more than once.

“You two are so far apart in age, and people are spreading rumors about it!” Jing Tian laughed. “That’s so fake. I trust Sister Zhang. You two are fine. Don’t mind it. Just keep up the good work.”

Jing Tian adopted the demeanor of a mistress of the house and comforted Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei turned to Li Mingyang and said, "Tian Tian, ​​just trust me. I will definitely find out who is spreading rumors. People who love to spread rumors shouldn't stay in the company."

Using veiled criticism to criticize others reveals malicious intent.

"Sweetie, since you trust Manager Zhang so much, why don't we have her come back to China with us and become the producer of your movie?"

"Great! That's wonderful!" Sweetie jumped up, clapping her hands quickly, creating a series of afterimages, her heart pounding with excitement.

“Old Wu is more suitable…” Zhang Wei tried to shift the blame.

"No, Lao Wu has his own projects and he's already too busy to handle them all. It's great that Sister Zhang can be the producer. It gives me even more confidence."

"I want to manage the bouquets in Korea, CJ..."

Before Zhang Wei could finish speaking, Jing Tian said, "The Korean side is hopeless, they have no money... Can I tell you, honey... Oh, Sister Zhang already knows... Sister Zhang, if you want to revive the Korean situation, you need money, a lot of money, so Mingyang is preparing to return to China early and leave the Korean side to CJ to manage."

Zhang Wei felt utterly wronged. She had originally wanted to find Jing Tian to stop Li Mingyang's beastly behavior and thoughts.

Because Li Mingyang is only a decent person in front of Jing Tian.

Liu Shishi would be fine, but Liu Shishi isn't here...

Little did she expect that Li Mingyang would ensnare her into Jing Tian's sweet spot...

"Sister Zhang, why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to be my producer?" Jing Tian pouted, her clear black and white eyes sparkling as she looked at Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei lowered her head and brushed a stray hair behind her ear. When she looked up again, she forced a smile and said, "Sure."

"That's great!" Jing Tian threw herself into Zhang Wei's arms.

His elbow accidentally bumped into Zhang Wei's chest.

Zhang Wei: This girl has no sense of proportion... It hurts.

Jing Tian: (⊙o⊙)…So soft

……

(End of this chapter)